The Delaware (Lenape, Lenni Lenape) are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands.
The homeland of the Lenape included what is now northeastern Delaware, all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, New York Bay, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley in New York State.
Prior to colonization, they were especially concentrated in the Delaware River Valley, for which they were named. However, they were named by the colonists. The Delaware people prefer to be known as Lenape or Lenni Lenape, which translates to "real people."
Traditionally, the Delaware depended largely on agriculture, supplementing their diet through hunting and fishing. Summer villages numbered several hundred people, while smaller bands traveled to hunt during the winter months.
Traditionally, individual Lenape were members of one of three clans, based on maternal descent. There were the Monsi (Wolf), also known as Tùkwsit (Wolf Clan); the Unami or Turtle, also known as Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan); and the Unilactigo or Turkey, also known as Pële (Turkey Clan).
Clans were themselves divided into lineages, whose members lived together in a longhouse, and groups of longhouses formed the core of what were autonomous communities or villages, of which there were about forty in 1600. A council was made up of lineage chiefs (sachems) and other reputable men, and it was they who decided the public affairs of the community. The eldest woman of the lineage was responsible for appointing or dismissing the chief.
The Lenape were a powerful Northeastern Woodlands tribe. While they weren't politically unified, the Delaware were allied for defense and war. After the Dutch arrived in the 1620s, the Lenape were able to restrict Dutch settlement for a couple of decades
The Lenape were more friendly to William Penn than any of the other tribes, but that didn't prevent them from being deprived of their own lands.
Fearing the power of the Lenape, colonists were careful to prevent the Lenape from gaining access to firearms, while their rivals, the Susquehannocks and the Iroquois Confederation, became well-armed in comparison. As a result, the Lenape became subjugated to these other tribes, while repeated violence from European colonists decimated the Delaware population.
In 1862, William Penn negotiated a treaty with the Lenape and Quaker colonists arriving at the newly created Pennsylvania Colony. However, as more and more colonists arrived in the region, they were allowed to settle on Lenape land. After the death of William Penn in 1718, things got even worse for the Lenape. His heirs, John, and Thomas Penn, began a practice of selling Lenape land to colonial settlers, which led to the Walking Purchase, a 1737 treaty that deprived the Lenape of all of their lands, forcing them to settle on lands assigned to the Iroquois.
Subsequently, many Lenape drifted westward in stages, stopping on the Susquehanna, the Allegheny, and the Muskingum rivers in Ohio, and the White River in Indiana. Others remained behind to assimilate in New Jersey. Nearly sixty years later, Lenape individuals living beyond the Ohio River revived a tribal alliance, asserted their independence from the Iroquois, and opposed the colonists. They defeated the British General Braddock in the French and Indian War and were divided over which side to take, if any, in the American Revolution. However, they were forced to cede their Ohio lands in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, after which many Lenape bands dispersed. Groups of Lenape resurfaced in Kansas around 1835, but most were forced into Indian Territory in Oklahoma in 1867.
European settlers pushed most of the Lenape out of the East Coast, through to Ohio, and then further west. After the British were defeated in the American Revolution, most members of the Munsee Lenape left the United States, and their descendants are on three reserves in Western Ontario, Canada. These are descendants of the Lenape who sided with the British during the War. Two groups of Lenape (the Stockbridge-Munsee and the Munsee Lenape) migrated to Oneida County, New York. The Munsee Lenape, who had moved to Stockbridge, were forcefully displaced to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1822.
The 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's forced the Lenape to cede its lands in Indiana for lands west of the Mississippi, where many of them settled on the James River in Missouri.
The main body of Delaware arrived in Indian Territory in the 1860s, and the two federally recognized tribes of Lenape in Oklahoma are the Delaware Nation and the Delaware Tribe of Indians. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community is in Wisconsin, and the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania has applied for federal recognition. Many Delaware continue to live in the Northeast. Those that have received state recognition include the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, the Nanticoke-Lenni Lenape Tribal Nation, and the Ramapough Lenape Nation.
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Based in Anadarko, Oklahoma, the Delaware Nation (Èhëliwsikakw Lënapeyok) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Delaware (Lenape) Indians in the United States, although there are First Nations tribes in Canada. Also known as the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma, and sometimes the Absentee or Western Delaware, the tribe's jurisdictional area is in Caddo County, where the tribe operates its own housing authority and issues tribal vehicle tags. Contacts are posted.
https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov/
Delaware Nation at Moraviantown
The Delaware Nation (Eelūnaapèewii Lahkèewiit) is situated on Moravian 47, an Indian reserve in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, with an area of about five square miles. The Delaware Nation occupies it at Moraviantown First Nation and is commonly known as Moravian of the Thames Reserve. Tribal members are descendants of a group of Munsee who were converted to Christianity by Moravian Church missionaries in Pennsylvania, after which they became known as Christian Munsee.
https://delawarenation.on.ca/
Formerly known as the Cherokee Delaware or Eastern Delaware, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with another headquarters in Caney, Kansas, is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Lenape (Delaware) people in the United States. The tribe has no tribal jurisdictional area, although their housing program covers Craig, Nowata, Washington, and part of Tulsa counties. The tribal government, locations, services, programs, housing, and events are noted.
https://delawaretribe.org/
Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware
Currently unrecognized, the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware represents a Lenape tribal community concentrated in central Kent County, Delaware. Its site claims state-designated tribal area status for the purpose of the 2010 census. The group formed a constitutional tribal government in 2010 to provide a structure for a sovereign tribal government and is a member of the Confederation of Sovereign Nentego-Lenape Tribes. Contacts, affiliations, photos, and links to other resources are provided.
http://lenapeindiantribeofdelaware.com/
The LNPA is one of several cultural heritage organizations identifying as descendants of the Lenape people, also known as Lenni-Lenape or Delaware people. Based in Easton, Pennsylvania, this is an unrecognized tribe founded as the Eastern Lenape Nation in 1998, and which is actively lobbying the Pennsylvania legislature for state recognition as a tribe or Indian nation. Contacts, information about making contributions, and reports on the status of its recognition effort are provided.
https://www.lenape-nation.org/
The official diction of Lenape, the language of the Delaware Tribe, is an online language learning tool designed to support Lenape language education through an expansive dictionary and language lessons. While its primary function is translating words, sentences, and phrases from English to Lenape, or vice versa, each Lenape search result includes an audio clip of a Lenape speaker saying the item. Examples, photos, and historical examples are included.
https://www.talk-lenape.org/
The Munsee-Delaware Nation (Nalahii Lunaapewaak) is a Lenape First Nations band government west of St. Thomas in southwest Ontario, Canada. Members are descendants of Lenape, who arrived in the 18th century. Previously known as the Munsee of the Thames, the tribe operates a Bingo Hall on Jubilee Road in Muncey, Ontario. The address and phone number are provided, along with its hours and schedules for Bingo sessions and fast track, callers are listed, along with the available games and payouts.
https://www.munseebingo.com/
Nanticoke and Lenape Confederation Learning Center and Museum
Dedicated to sharing the tribal history and culture of the Delaware Bay region, the museum is located in Millsboro, Delaware. The facility includes a collection of old and contemporary Nanticoke and Lenape artifacts, as well as a learning center providing information on Nanticoke and Lenape creation stories. Its location, hours, permanent exhibits, special cultural exhibits, and curriculum guidelines are set forth, along with contacts, photographs, video, and text features.
https://nanticokelenapemuseum.org/
The Nanticoke Lenape is a tribal confederation of Nanticoke of the Delmarva Peninsula and the Lenape of southern New Jersey and northern Delaware. While they are not federally recognized, they are recognized by the state of New Jersey. Its members are descendants of Algonquian-speaking Nanticoke and Lenape people who remained in or returned to their ancient homeland at Delaware Bay. Managed by the tribal council, contacts, and a member portal are featured.
https://www.nlltribalnation.org/
This is probably an earlier version of the official website for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation, added here because it may include some information not carried over in the newer site. The tribal history is posted on the site, along with a link to a free e-book. An overview of the nation, its museum and learning center, events, tribal prayer circle ministry, contacts, the Friends of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape membership organization, and links to other affiliated online resources.
https://nanticoke-lenape.info/
The Tuscarawas County village was founded in the 1760s by Netawatwees, also known as King Newcomer, a Sachem and spiritual leader of the Delaware people, who migrated to the area from Cuyahoga Falls with his band of Lenape (Delaware) Indians. The Lenape name for the town was Gekelukpechink, while English and American traders knew it as Newcomer's town. In 1776, more than seven hundred Lenape and several traders lived in the town, although they were removed after the American Revolution.
https://www.newcomerstownoh.com/
Descendants of the Munsee-speaking Lenape people who stayed behind after the forced removal of most of the nation by the Dutch, the English, and the United States government, the Alliance is seeking the return of its homeland so that it can grow its own food naturally and sustainably, without the use of genetically modified crops and pesticides. The Alliance partners with allies to purchase and preserve its homelands in the Ramapo Mountains, protecting ancient sites.
https://ramapomunseelandalliance.org/
Know variously as the Ramapough Mountain Indians, the Ramapough Lenape Nation, the Ramapough Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation, or Ramapo Mountain People, the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation is a group of about five thousand people living in and around the Ramapo Mountains in northern New Jersey and southern New York. Recognized by the state of New Jersey, they are not federally recognized. The tribe claims members descended largely from the Lenape regional bands. Photos and contacts are noted.
https://ramapomunsee.net/
Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians
Also known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community or the Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Band, the federally recognized American Indian tribe formed in the late 18th century from groups of Christianized members of two distinct groups: Mohicans and both Munsee and Wappinger Lenape. Their reservation consists of a checkerboard of 24.03 square miles in Bartleme and Red Springs in Shawano County, Wisconsin. Its tribal government, services, businesses, and contacts are provided.
https://www.mohican.com/
